Practice
by StrawberryXShine
Summary: Mello sips his coffee while his student Near struggles at the piano. Random OC oneshot.


_Ahhh you really can find inspiration in the oddest places. _

_Thank you to my piano teacher for inspiring me to write this. And teaching me how to stretch my hands to hit those hard notes! _

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own Death Note or it's characters. They belong to Ohba and Obata. I also do now own Dmitri Kabelvsky. Even if this was inspired by him.._

_---------------------------------------------story start--------------------------------------------------------------_

Near sighed incredibly frustrated. That was the fifth time he had pressed F natural instead of F sharp. He began to grow impatient. Why couldn't it just process in his head that there were no F naturals in this piece! His fingers were feeling clumsy and heavy. They stumbled over one another and hit unnecessary notes. He felt incredibly stupid... his teacher Mello was probably beginning to grow impatient. He probably thought Near was an idiot for struggling with this piece.

Mello had been teaching Near for six months now. Near had been taking lessons for seven years and his grandfather, Roger Ruvie, had switched him over to Mello's instruction after Near had told him his last instructor wasn't challenging enough. Mello had just started teaching in his spare time because he needed the extra money. Near found him to be rude, tough, and loud. But he really did like Mello.

He took him as a serious pianist and not just some student. And most importantly he challenged him.

All in all Near wasn't bad at playing. But his fingers and hands were just so small! It took him longer than most would to learn a piece. His brain could comprehend the notes but it took him awhile to adjust the tempo and rhythms and just how to play it in general. Once he finally had it he could play it impeccably but the more he messed up in front of Mello the more embarrassed and frustrated he became thus the more errors he made .

Near took a deep breath and sat back for a second looking over the piece once more. He glanced at Mello from his peripheral vision. His blond instructor was currently standing next to a coffee maker impatiently waiting for his coffee to brew and munching on a chocolate bar. Near looked and made sure Mello wasn't beginning to lose patience with his screw ups before looking back at the smooth expanse of white and black keys, scooting his stool forward a little, and placing his fingers on the correct keys he would start with.

'_C sharp, A, F sharp, D …. what is that... that sign means.. cancellation so the D is ….natural, E, F sharp, G sharp...then it switches positions so …. thumb under and stretch your fifth finger...okay..I can do that.. it isn't that hard.' _glancing over once more at Mello who was now pouring the coffee he took one more breath and began to play.

He got through the first twelve measures until the melody switched from his right hand to his left. The sudden change in keys also threw him off thoroughly. He fumbled with the keys trying to stretch his pinky out to hit the higher G sharp while his thumb tried to hit the A natural when he forgot about his left hand and completely stopped using it to play. The sudden realization made him panic and his thumb slipped slamming into the C natural and B natural keys noisily. He stopped playing and looked down at his tangled fingers mortified.

He couldn't believe had just made such a big error. He could feel the heat creeping to his cheeks and willed himself not to look up and see the expression on Mello's face. It was probably an aggravated one … or one that just screamed "are you an idiot?". He slowly retracted his hands and gripped the edge of the bench. God why was this piece so hard! It wasn't even supposed to be that difficult!

He heard Mello's footsteps approaching slowly. He couldn't bring himself to look up. He waited to hear Mello's gruff irritated voice begin his long drawn out lecture about how Near was messing up and that he probably hadn't been practicing at all. In truth Near practiced everyday for several hours. He wanted to impress Mello and show him that he could be a great piano player. Near had a small crush on his teacher. And didn't want to disappoint him...

He stared down at his lap and placed his hands palm down on his knees. They were beginning to cramp and were causing him a great deal of pain. He heard Mello sit down on the chair beside the bench and set his coffee cup down on the floor. Near's cheeks were burning now and he wished Mello would just say the session was over already. He wanted to go home and practice for hours so when he came back he could play beautifully and just blow Mello away...

He jumped as Mello's strong rough hands took his small soft ones and he began massaging his palms and fingers gently. " Just relax Near the more tense you get the harder it will be to play. Your hands are cramping and you should probably take a break. Don't worry about that section yet I told you we would get to that later. Just play through what we've gone over and wait until I tell you to start that. Now scoot over and let me play it through and listen to how I do it okay?"

Near nodded not trusting himself to look up he scooted down a spot on the bench and watched Mello move to sit next to him. Mello placed his fingers on the keys but didn't start. "Hey look at me." Near tried to make the red tinge vanish from his face as he looked up at Mello through his pale white bangs. Mello smirked down at Near, " It isn't the end of the world You'll get it eventually alright? Don't have a seizure." Then Mello's smirk faded as he turned to the piano with a serious expression not bothering to glance up at the sheet music and began to play.

Near watched stunned as Mello's long thin fingers flew over the keys quickly and professionally. The sweet sound of a skilled player floated out of the piano and hung in the air. They soothed Near and made his blunders not seem that bad. He closed his eyes and listened quietly loving the atmosphere that being with Mello created. He was so peaceful that he didn't notice as he leaned his head against Mello's shoulder and didn't notice what he had done until he felt the muscles in Mello's arm stop flexing as he ended the song.

Near's eyes shot open and he jumped back away from Mello. "I'm sorry Mello. I didn't mean to... disturb you." Mello just smirked down at him," It's alright Near... now you try okay? And remember only the parts we worked on." Mello stood up and waited for Near to try.

Near glanced down at the keys and then placed his fingers on them delicately. He prayed to god he didn't mess up again. He began playing and breezed through it for the most part but he knew it didn't sound as beautiful as it had when Mello had played. His thoughts began to wander and he began to mess up. His right hand got ahead of his left and suddenly he lost his place. He began to panic and was ready to stop playing when he felt Mello's hands slide over his knocking them out of the way and taking over from where Near left off. "Put your hands over mine and move them in time with my fingers."

Near hesitantly set his fingers over Mello's and moved them with his. When his hands jumped an octave Near's would jump an octave. When his index finger pressed down so would Near's and even though it was with great difficulty when Mello's fingers stretched apart so did Near's. They played until the end of the piece and then when the music stopped playing Near didn't want to remove his hands. He looked behind him and up into the handsome scarred face of his instructor. Mello had never told him what the scar was from. But Near didn't need to ask to know his teacher had done some things he wasn't very proud of. This sixteen year old albino could see it in his bright blue eyes and he knew Mello regretted his past. So Near never pushed him on the subject.

Mello turned his head and looked down at Near. "Very good," he murmured then without warning he leaned down and pressed his lips to Near's. Near jumped startled but soon relaxed into Mello's soft lips.

They kissed for a short moment before the kitchen timer keeping track of Near's lesson buzzed and they pulled apart. Mello stood back, gathered Near's music, and handed them to him, "Tell your grandfather that I am requesting you take extra lessons. Say... about four times a week?" Mello smirked then winked at his young student who was now blushing bright red. Near nodded and took his music then started towards the door in a daze. "Wait Near." Near turned around and looked up at Mello. "I require a good bye kiss....." Mello leaned down capturing Near's lips in a soft kiss once more before pulling back and grinning," and don't forget to practice." With that Near's cheeks burned bright red as he was pushed out the door by a chuckling Mello.

Oh yes....he liked Mello. He liked him a lot.


End file.
